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27
Maternity and Child Welfare.
The duties imposed upon the Council by the Maternity and Child
Welfare Act are among its most important functions.
These duties form part of a great movement having for their
ultimate object the building up of a healthy nation. A notable feature
of the work, characteristic of our people, is the fact that it is being
achieved without any coercion or threat of legal proceedings, the only
branch in which the demands of the law are in evidence being that
relating to Infant Life Protection. This being the case, it is evident
that endless tact and persuasion must be exercised by the staff engaged
in the work. It is not easy to estimate the amount of suffering and
disability which is prevented by this work among women and children,
nor to what extent the home visits of the Health Visitors ultimately
result in improvements in the hygienic conditions of the homes; but
that considerable good does result does not admit of argument.
Maternity and Child Welfare activities have developed pari passu with
the appreciation of the fact that physical health is of first and vital
importance to the nation, and with the knowledge that it is false
economy to refrain from dealing with these matters until public health
work, instead of being preventive, becomes curative.
Live Births.